Chapter 6 Indonesian Stories (5)

Javanese colonists brought their own Hindu caste system to Bali, although the lines of social status were not as strictly enforced as in India of the past.However, the Balinese identified a complex social hierarchy (five for the Brahmins alone).Understanding the intricate, interlocking lineage system that still prevails here is harder than deciphering human genes. (The author Fred B. Eiseman has written many good articles on Balinese culture that further elaborate on these subtleties; I have taken most of my information from his research, not only here, but also in various All chapters benefit.) In a nutshell, every Balinese belongs to a certain ethnic group, and everyone knows which ethnic group they belong to.If you get kicked out by the Clan for a serious foul, you might as well jump off a volcano because, let's be honest, you'd be dead.

Balinese culture has one of the most organized systems of social and religious organization in the world, with well-organized tasks, roles and rituals.The Balinese are embedded in a sophisticated set of customs.The emergence of this network is a combination of factors, but basically it can be said that the emergence of Bali is the result of the rich rituals of traditional Hinduism superimposed on the vast rice farming society, which needs to rely on elaborate Communities work together.Rice terraces require a lot of collective labor, maintenance and engineering to be successful.Therefore, every Balinese village has a "banjar" - an organization organized by the people's union, which makes decisions in the village's politics, economy, religion, agriculture, etc. through consensus.In Bali, the importance of the group absolutely surpasses that of the individual, otherwise no one would have anything to eat.

Religious ceremonies are of paramount importance in Bali (don't forget, the island has seven unpredictable volcanoes - and you can't help but worship the Buddha's feet).It is estimated that the typical Balinese woman spends one-third of her day preparing for, participating in, or cleaning up after the ceremony.Life here is a constant cycle of sacrifice and ritual.You have to do it all in the right order and with the right motivation, or the whole universe will be thrown out of balance.Anthropologist Margaret Mead wrote that the Balinese are "incredibly busy," and she's absolutely right -- there's very little downtime in the Balinese.There are rituals that must be performed five times a day, and rituals that must be performed once a day, a week, a month, a year, every decade, every hundred years, every thousand years.These dates and ceremonies are organized by priests and saints with reference to three complex calendars.

Everyone in Bali has thirteen transition ceremonies, each with a highly organized ceremony.The soul soothing ceremony is held throughout his life. In order to protect the soul from 108 kinds of crimes (the number "108" again), including violence, stealing, laziness, lying, etc., every person in Bali Children go through a major puberty ritual in which their canines, or "fangs," are ground down to enhance their beauty.Vulgarity and bestiality are the worst things that can happen to the Balinese, and the fangs are seen as a reminder of our savage nature and must therefore be removed.It is dangerous to be a savage in this organized culture.One person's murderous intent is enough to disrupt the cooperative web of an entire village.Therefore, it is best to be an "alus" in Bali, that is, someone who is "educated" or "beautified".In Bali, beauty is a good thing, regardless of gender.Beauty is revered.Beauty is safe and sound.Children must learn to "smile" in the face of pain.

The whole of Bali is a matrix, a huge organization composed of holy spirits, guides, paths and customs.Every Balinese knows where he belongs and orients himself within this vast, invisible map.Just look at the four names of nearly every Balinese person - eldest, second, third, fourth - to remind everyone of when they were born and where they belonged in the family.Even calling children East, South, West, and North is no clearer than this social classification system.My Italian-Indonesian friend Mario told me that he is only happy when he keeps his mind and spirit at the intersection of the vertical and the horizontal, in perfect balance.To do this, he must always know where he stands, whether in relation to God or to his family.If you lose your balance, you lose your strength.

So it is not a ludicrous assumption to say that the Bali islands are the world's masters of balance; maintaining a state of perfect balance is an art, science and religion to them.For me, in my search for personal balance, I look to the Balinese to learn how to maintain balance in a chaotic world.However, the more I read and saw about the culture, the more I realized how far I was from balance, at least from a Balinese point of view.My habit of roaming the world oblivious to where I was, and my decision to step out of the restricted network of marriage and family made me - as far as the Bali issue was concerned - something of a ghost.I like living this way, but by Balinese standards of self-esteem, it's a horrible life.How do you find balance if you don't know who you are or what group you belong to?